Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption Sir Lynton Crosby was campaign director for the Conservatives at May’s election The knighthood awarded to an adviser who helped the Conservatives win the election is “outrageous”, shadow home secretary Andy Burnham has said. Australian Lynton Crosby, nicknamed the Wizard of Oz, was Tory campaign director at May’s general election. [...]

Media captionBarbara Windsor: “Dame Babs sounds nice doesn’t it” Veteran actress Barbara Windsor has been made a dame on a New Year Honours list which also recognises the achievements of jockey AP McCoy with a knighthood. The honour for Dame Barbara, 78, best known for playing pub landlady Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders and for her [...]

Media captionFootage showed a mobile home smashing into bridge on the River Dee in Ballater, Aberdeenshire Storm Frank has battered parts of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland leaving more severe floods in its wake. Scotland bore the brunt of the bad weather with hundreds of homes evacuated in the Borders towns of Dumfries, Hawick and [...]

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Oliver Letwin is one of David Cameron’s longest-serving ministers David Cameron’s policy chief has apologised “unreservedly” for any offence caused by remarks he made about black communities days after the 1985 Broadwater Farm riot in north London. In a newly-released memo, Oliver Letwin – then adviser to Margaret Thatcher [...]

Media captionJenny Hill looks at how the Bavarian town of Abensberg is coping with its new migrants More than one million refugees and migrants have reached Europe by sea since the start of 2015, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) says. More than 80% of the 1,000,573 people arrived in Greece, with the majority landing [...]

Media captionFootage showed the moment a bridge collapsed in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire Heavy rain and gales are hitting Northern Ireland and Scotland as Storm Frank brings fears of further flooding. There are four severe flood warnings, indicating danger to life, and 46 flood warnings, requiring immediate action, in force in England and Wales. Some 38 [...]

Media captionThe BBC’s Nick Serpell looks back on the life of Lemmy Motorhead frontman Lemmy has died aged 70, two days after learning he had cancer, the British band has announced. Lemmy formed the rock group in 1975 and recorded 22 albums, including Ace of Spades, as he became one of music’s most recognisable voices [...]

Image copyright Thinkstock Smokers are being urged not to dismiss the early signs of a debilitating disease as simply a smoker’s cough. In a new campaign, Public Health England says too many smokers remain unaware of the risks of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD, which narrows the airways, can leave people struggling to do [...]

Media captionThomas Fessy reports from inside Ramadi in Iraq. Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi has said so-called Islamic State (IS) will be ousted from the country, after government forces recaptured Ramadi. In a televised address, Mr Abadi vowed to retake Iraq’s second city of Mosul, saying it would be “the fatal and final blow” to IS. [...]

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Alfredo Pacheco (centre) played 86 times for El Salvador’s national team Former El Salvador national team footballer Alfredo Pacheco has been shot dead, officials say. A man approached Pacheco, 33, and fired several shots at a petrol station in the city of Santa Ana, 76km (47 miles) west of the [...]